First Cobalt Pioneer produces cobalt for electric

vehicles

First Cobalt is a North American based company and is exploring a restart of the First Cobalt Refinery in Ontario. The company wants to become North America’s first cobalt sulphate producer which is a crucial component that can be used in the batteries of the electric vehicles.

It expects to start making cobalt sulphate this year. This step of the company will help North America to reduce the dependency on China, which dominates the supply chain for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

First Cobalt Pioneer produces cobalt

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the sales of electric vehicles have fallen this year but it will grow as the governments around the world will remove the fossil fuels vehicles.
The First Cobalt commissioned a feasibility study which showed the refinery producing an annualised 1,000 tonnes of cobalt or 5,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate by late 2020 or early 2021.

In the second phase of this will be producing 5,000 tonnes of cobalt or 25,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate by the fourth quarter of 2021.

“The strong outlook for electric vehicles, the push by automakers to develop shorter supply chains and the projected refinery economics create an excellent opportunity,” said First Cobalt’s Chief Executive Trent Mell, (The study) is an important milestone in our efforts to disrupt the existing concentrated cobalt supply chain.”

5,000 tonnes of cobalt for 3,35,000 electric vehicles

The Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analyst Caspar Rawles said that 5,000 tonnes of cobalt would be sufficient for 3,35,000 electric vehicles if the cathode part of the battery was made up of 6 parts nickel, 2 parts cobalt and 2 part manganese.

He said if the same amount will be enough for about 700,000 electric vehicles if the cathode comprised 8 parts nickel, 1 part cobalt and 1 part manganese.

The global supply of cobalt for this year was estimated at around 135,000 tonnes before the coronavirus lockdowns in producing countries. 

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The study shows the estimated cost for producing cobalt at First Cobalt’s refinery at $2.72 an lb, or nearly $6,000 a tonne. Currently, cobalt metal price in London Metal Exchange is $30,000 a tonne. Cobalt sulphate and hydroxide are typically priced at the discount to the metal. This project needs initial capital of $56 million.

“Discussions are underway with Glencore on commercial arrangements, financing and allocation of project economics; third party and government funding opportunities also under review,” First Cobalt said.

Benefits of Cobalt 

The cobalt helps in extending the life of the lithium-ion batteries and it also minimises the risk of electrical fires.

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